Just Stop Oil activist tries to glue own head to Girl with a Pearl Earring in Dutch museum. Photograph: @kolpen

The Hague's Mauritshuis protester claims that Vermeer's artwork is preserved and in good condition unlike the "future of our children."

After the masterpiece of Johannes Vermeer's Golden Age, Girl with a Pearl Earring, became the latest target of climate demonstrators, Dutch police made three arrests at the Mauritshuis museum in The Hague.

Two guys wearing Just Stop Oil T-shirts were shown in a social media video standing in front of the painting as one attempted to superglue his shaved head to it and the other dumped what seemed to be a can of tomato soup over him.

BREEK - Meisje met de parel van Johannes Vermeer besmeurd in #Mauritshuis. pic.twitter.com/XzAZTOoBv9

— Steven Bakker (@Kolpen) October 27, 2022

The painting, which was protected by glass, had been evaluated by the museum's restorers, who found no signs of damage, according to a statement from the institution. The statement said, "Art is defenseless, and the Mauritshuis vehemently rejects attempts to damage it for any reason."

It follows Sunday's mashed potato attack on Claude Monet's Les Meules (Haystacks) in the Museum Barberini in Potsdam, a city outside of Berlin, by members of the German environmental organization Letzte Generation.

Ten days earlier, members of the Just Stop Oil movement in London dumped tomato soup over Vincent van Gogh's Sunflowers, one of the gallery's most priceless works of art, before attaching themselves to the wall underneath it. Sunflowers and Les Meules were also enclosed under glass.

One of the demonstrators in The Hague questioned, "How do you feel when you see something beautiful and priceless seemingly being destroyed before your eyes?" "Are you outraged? Good. When you watch the world being destroyed, where is that feeling?

He said that although the picture was "protected by glass and is just fine," "the future of our children" was not, prompting the yells of "Shame on you!", "Obscene," "Stupid," and "Get away from there" from gallery attendees. Three persons were detained for "public violence against goods," according to the Hague police.

The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp by Rembrandt and Girl with a Pearl Earring, which is regarded as the Mauritshuis' finest treasure, are only two examples of the countless Dutch masterworks that can be found there.

According to René Timmermans, a museum spokeswoman, the museum was as ready as it could be for such situations on Wednesday, according to the AD daily. "There has been extensive internal consultation regarding what additional measures we can take," he added.

Although visitors were only permitted to bring "a small handbag" into the museum, Timmermans refused to clarify what those measures would be, claiming that inspecting them would be going too far. "Protest actions can never be completely avoided," he remarked.

Thanks to Jon Henley at The Guardian whose reporting provided the original basis for this story.